The Zenstudies: Making a Healthy Transition to Higher Education program aims to prevent depression and anxiety among first-year students in post-secondary school. It includes three modules, or prevention levels. Module 1, presented here, is an in-class universal prevention program, designed to be delivered by a post-secondary instructor, that helps students develop mental-health awareness and understand the transition to higher education, equipping them with preventive strategies so they can successfully adjust. This first module of Zenstudies endeavours to ease the transition to higher education and thereby lower the risk of dropout, while providing students a better grasp of the issues surrounding internalizing problems, such as anxiety and depression, and equipping them with a few prevention strategies. The facilitator’s guide has been specifically designed for teachers who want to use the program in their classrooms. The participant’s workbook was developed for students and accompanies the facilitator’s guide, which will be used by your teacher. In Section 1 of the program, your teacher will give you information about the difficulties of transitioning from high school to college or university; for example, the challenges in the transition to adulthood and the importance of effective time management. Then in Section 2, the teacher will provide indicators that will help you recognize symptoms of anxiety and depression that you might experience during this transition. Finally, in Section 3, you’ll learn a few preventive techniques and strategies for anxiety and depression. The program is accompanied by an online component available via the website of the Research Laboratory on School-Based Mental Health at the Université du Québec à Montréal’s Psychology Department (www.labomarcotte.ca/en). Published in English.

The Zenstudies: Making a Healthy Transition to Higher Education program aims to prevent depression and anxiety among first-year students in post-secondary school. It includes three modules, or prevention levels, Module 3 of Zenstudies, presented here, is a targeted-indicated prevention program consisting in 10 small-group sessions (no more than 12 students) led by two mental health professionals. This is the guide for Module 3, the targeted-indicated prevention program. It presents the 10 small-group sessions (6 to 10 students) that will be led by two mental health professionals. The sessions include 15 components and are tailored to first-year students experiencing anxious or depressive symptoms. The goal is early intervention, aimed at preventing mental health disorders in at-risk students. It has been shown that the presence of symptoms is a strong predictor of a future mental health disorder, which is why intervention is vital at symptom onset. By reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, the program also facilitates the transition from high school to college or university, thereby lowering the risk of dropout. It also raises awareness about anxiety and depression—which are both internalizing disorders—and equips students with different preventive strategies. Published in English.